Improvement in devices for filling lowlands



cEoEGE HowELL,v oE PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 110,468, dated December 27, 1870 antedated December 9, 1870.

IMPROVEM-ENT IN DEV/ICES FOR FILLING LOWLANDS.

The Schedule refer-:edito these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

I, GEORGE HOWELL, of the city of'Philadeipbia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain lin-- provements in Filling up L owlands, ofl which the following is a specification. f

The nature of my invention consists of a boat for scooping up the mud from the bed ot' rivers or other sheets of' water, and discharging the same into a scow,

which is floated oft` through a canal to an inclosure to be filled up.. lThe said boat has longitudinal trunks, the front ends of which are-set of the -proper depth t0 scoopup the mud oi the top of the bed, and the' rear ends of lthe trunks being elevated suiciently high Vto hang overa drop-bottom scow arranged at the rear end of the boat; the latter is driven or drawn forward by means of a steam-engine, and the mud is forced through the before-mentioned trunks and depositedinthe scow.

When the scow is lilled-it is oated o' through the canal into the inclosure to be lled up, and emptied f its contents, and then lfloated back for another load, and -so on successively.,

To enable others skilled in the art to which my im?.

provement appertans to make and use my invention, I will nowv give a. detailed description thereof(- In the accompanying drawing which makes a part of this specification-- Figure 1 represents an inclosure -to be lled up and a canal leading therefrom to a place from which dirt is taken to fill up the said inclosure.

Figure 2, sheet No.' 2, is a plan view of a boat provided with an apparatus forv scooping up mud iiom muddy land or beds of rivers,` and a dat drop-bottom scow into which the mud is discharged and transported to the inclosure.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same.

Like letters in all the igures indicate the same parts.

A, sheet No. 1, is an inclosure to be filled up, having embankments B, which I usually make by throwing up earth of a suitable height to receive a sheet of water for floating a loaded drop-bottom scow. The water is supplied to the inclosure by means of a pump.

Gis a canal leading to the place from which the irt is obtained. l

The canal is connected with the inclosure A by means of the lock D, having gates E E, constructed,

arranged, and operated in the usual manner, the canal receiving its supply of water from the said inclosure.

In figs. 2 and-3 a boat, F, is rep1'esented,'which is operated by means of a steam-engine, not shown in the drawing;

There aretrunks, G G', one at each side of the boat F, hung on the shaft H which passes through the boat.

'lhe trunks are also connected with the parallell shaft H by means of the beanIsJ J, and parallel ver-v tical bars K.

The said shaft H' is provided with a lever, L, for i adjusting the front ends 1 l of the trunks 'G G, so that the curved plates a a may rest uponthe top of the mud to be taken up.

The trunks being adjusted,l the' lever is held in position by the lpin b, which is passed through a hole beneath it in each of the curved strips S S, between which it bears, the lower ends of said strips -being confined by means of foot-flanges c c and screws (l d, seen in the drawing.

The scooping-trunks G G being-` adjusted as described, the boat is forced or drawn forward, the projecting plates e e at the front ends of the ltrunks running through the mud to facilitate the passage of the same through the trunks.

As the ruud, by the" forward movement of the boat,

is pushed through the trunks in a continuous stream it falls into the drop-bottom scow T.

When the scow is filled the boat F is stopped, and

the scow )floatedl olf through the canal O to the inclosure A' and emptied of its contents.

Then the scow is floated back to the boat F, and the operation continued until the inclosur A is iilled up.

What I claim as my invention. and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the adjustable scooping-trunks G G with the boat F, the said trunks being constructed and arranged substantially as described, and'discharging'thediit into a scow, T, as specified.

.In testimony that the above is my'invention I have hereunto set my handA and adixed -my seal this 9th day of February, 1870. i

GEORGE HOWELL. [n s.] Witnesses: STEPHEN UsTIoK, v THoMAs'J. BEWLEY. 

